Case Study: Water and Wastewater Utilities Planning for Climate Change CLEVELAND DIVISION OF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL Background The Cleveland Division of Water Pollution Control (WPC) is responsible for managing the sanitary sewage and stormwater collection system in Cleveland, Ohio. Utilizing its own equipment and manpower, Cleveland WPC cleans and services approximately 15,000 catch basins, cleans 400,000 feet of sewers and inspects 250,000 feet of sewers via video annually to eliminate potential street and basement flooding. The sewer collection system transfers sanitary sewage and stormwater from its point of origin to treatment facilities. Cleveland WPC also implements pollution prevention programs through its Public Involvement and Public Education (PIPE) program. Climate Threats Cleveland WPC identified intense precipitation events as a primary climate threat. Cleveland WPC has ongoing issues with intense precipitation events and resultant pollution issues due to combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sedimentation from stream bank erosion. Lake Erie beaches had especially bad pollution following heavy precipitation events which restricted recreational and swimming activities. One beach in particular incurred heavy pollution and recreational restrictions for days following the rain events, all of which received considerable coverage in the local media. Recently, Cleveland WPC has seen an increase in extreme events, including increased water levels in creeks, more CSO events and increased sedimentation. Cleveland WPC noted that the high intensity rain events have been happening more frequently. During an extreme flooding event that occurred in July 2014, Cleveland WPC did not experience infrastructure damage, but did sustain basement and street flooding as sewers and pump stations could not keep up with floodwaters. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District had considerable infrastructure damage and was forced to shut down for a short period of time following this event. Planning Process To better understand the vulnerability of their sanitary sewage and stormwater collection system, Cleveland WPC assessed potential climate change impacts using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Climate Resilience Evaluation and Awareness Tool (CREAT). The CREAT assessment brought together individuals from EPA and various departments within Cleveland WPC, state agencies and local environmental organizations to think critically about potential climate impacts, prioritize assets and consider possible adaptation options. Adaptation Measures Cleveland WPC considered the potential consequences of extreme flooding events on their drinking water and wastewater utility infrastructure and operations. To assess each of these potential threats, Cleveland WPC considered how potential adaptive measures would help lower consequences. See the table below for potential adaptive measures that were considered. Cleveland Division of Water Pollution Control Case Study— Page 1 SEPA ------- Case Study: Water and Wastewater Utilities Planning for Climate Change TYPE POTENTIAL ADAPTIVE MEASURES Pump station flooding protection Back-up power for pump stations Increased system capacity for higher wastewater stormwater influent volumes Improved watershed management Improved community outreach Emergency response plan focused on operations during pump station outages due to power failures or other necessary shut downs Building code changes regarding downspout disconnections Community/ Government options Building code changes regarding best management practices Building code changes regarding riparian setbacks Green infrastructure throughout the community to capture stormwater flows Research community partnerships Contact Information For more information regarding Cleveland WPC's climate adaptation planning, contact Rachid Zoghaib at RZoqhaib@clevelandwpc.com. Cleveland Division of Water Pollution Control Case Study— Page 2 &EPA Office of Water (4608T) EPA 800-Q-15-011 December 2015 ------- |